Siege of Worcester (1642)

The Siege of Worcester (July 1642) was a siege action of the First English Civil War. The siege occurred after the Parliamentarian general, the Baron Brooke, pressed the advantage won at the Battle of Kington and reduced the Royalist capital of Worcester in Worcestershire.

Following the Battle of Kington, the shattered Royalist forces retreated in disarray towards Worcester, having been released by the Parliamentarians in exchange for a ransom payment from King Charles I of England. The Royalists took refuge behind the walls of Worcester, their new capital after the encirclement of Oxford. The Parliamentarians used their artillery to breach the defenses, and they proceeded to storm the city. The Royalist forces, battered from battle in the field, were overwhelmed and forced to capitulate. Worcester fell to the Parliamentarians, depriving the Royalists of one of their most important strongholds in western England.